A YORK school has become the first outside London to benefit from a charity which tackles children's emotional problems.

All Saints' School has teamed up with London-based charity School Home Support to help pupils with a range of problems from bullying to bereavement.

The charity was set up 19 years ago and aims to support pupils and address any problems they are struggling with.

All Saints' School heard of the organisation through Sister Mary Walmsley, from the Bar Convent, in York. When funding ran out for its own part-time social worker it decided to get involved with the charity.

Through the charity, they employed Liz Tomlinson, who goes into the school three days a week to speak to pupils referred to her by teachers.

Liz, who has also worked as a teaching assistant and with North Yorkshire Youth Offending Team, took up the post earlier this year.

She said: "My post is to support families and children who are experiencing problems, it can be problems with school or at home such as a bereavement.

"I am seeing students in school, working with them and visiting them at home.

"Whatever I can help with is anything that will help students to get the maximum out of education."

Helen Bickley, head of the lower school at All Saints', said although teachers would like to be able to help students with emotional problems they had to concentrate on the academic side.

She said: "The Government has given us so many initiatives and the teachers can do the education side of it, but there are a lot of things that children can face that teacher cannot help with that can then hinder their progress - there is only so much that teachers can do."

Liz said there were a wide range of problems children could face, from something as simple as moving from primary school to secondary school.

She said: "In some cases it takes a long time to build up the trust and in other cases they want to just tell someone about their problem."

Liz also visits children and parents in their own homes, as they often find it easier to talk on their "own territory".

So far the scheme has proved successful. The school is planning to keep the programme running for the next three years and hopes it might extend to other schools.

Updated: 09:12 Wednesday, May 14, 2003